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Friday, November 15, 2013

This coming year will be the 45th anniversary of one of my favourite films, Sam Peckinpah's 'The Wild Bunch' and, coincidentally, 30 years since the director's death.

'The Wild Bunch' remains as one of the most iconic films in the Western genre and still holds up amazingly well after all these years. Peckinpah marched to his own drum, setting his own goals and challenges, with little concern to critical acceptance or popular acclaim. A great sentiment, I think, to set the tone for this year's Painting Challenge.

So, as the days grow cold and the nights stretch out, I extend to you a challenge to reduce that pile of unpainted toy soldiers you've managed to accumulate over the past year.

For those who are new to the Painting Challenge, here is the basic format (with a few highlighted additions):

The Rules

The Challenge will extend from 12:01 am December 15th through to the first day of Spring, 12:01 am March 20th CST (Central Standard Time).

Figures can be prepared and primed prior to the start date (Dec 15th), but no colour can be applied until the 15th. In order to be scored the figures have to be based and their groundwork completed. The figures have to be painted by you. The honour system will be followed in the completion and entry of figures to the Challenge. Again, great dishonour goes upon anyone who shames themselves in the time-honoured craft of painting toy soldiers!

The subject matter can be in any scale and in any theme, including sci-fi and fantasy.

In order to be scored, photos of all figures/units along with a short descriptive note must be submitted to me for posting on the Analogue Hobbies blog. Up-to-date scoring will be maintained on the main page.

The Judge (me) will participate, but my score (typically negligible) will not have any standing in the Challenge.

Other scales and miscellaneous models/figures will be scored on a submission-by-submission basis.

The Challengers' Point Targets

Same as last year, each Challenger will have to declare his/her points target that they hope to achieve by the March 20th deadline. Many have found this a great incentive to help maintain the pace over the three months of the Challenge. I encourage Challengers to pick a target that is a bit beyond their comfort zone, but still achievable.

The Fortnight Theme Bonus Rounds

Okay, I've shamelessly nicked this idea from the fine folks over at the Lead Adventure Forum's Painting League. For an added bit of fun, this year we will have 'Fortnight Theme Bonus Rounds'. Each 'Theme Bonus Round' challenges Challengers to enter a submission that illustrates that particular theme. The Bonus Rounds are not mandatory, they are just a little bit of silliness to mark the path of the Challenge.

Any Challenger who manages to submit an entry for a 'Fortnight Theme Bonus Round' will get an extra 50 points on top of the regular entry tally. No scales less than 15mm will be eligible for the Theme Bonus Rounds but they can be of a historical or fictional subject.

The Bonus Themes along with their submission deadlines are:

December 22: Non Combatant(s)

January 5: Villain(s)

January 19: Vehicle

February 2: Hero or Heroic Group

February 16: Casualty / Casualties

March 2: Favourite Character

March 16: Last Stand

Submissions need to be submitted by 12:01 Sunday (CST).

For each bonus round I'll post a poll listing all the round's entries so visitors can vote for their favourite.

The Angle

As previous years, I ask for a small memento from each Challenger. Last year's entrance fee was a 28mm painted figure of a Ronin and so in keeping with this year's 'Wild Bunch' theme, the entrance fee' for this year's Challenge will be a single 28mm figure that is inspired by a Sam Peckinpah film. The figure will be supplied and painted by the entrant. This miniature can be submitted any time up until the end of the Challenge. Again, same as last year, for each figure I receive I will donate $5 to the Saskatchewan branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The Call

Unfortunately, being a one-man show, I have a limit to how many folks I can administrate through the Challenge. As a big believer in loyalty and continuity, I have reserved a large proportion of spaces for previous Challengers, so I only have room for a limited number of open slots. If you're interested in joining in the madness please drop me a comment below. It's first come-first-serve, so don't shilly-shally about soldier! I'll place notification in this space when all the participant slots for the Challenge have been filled.

Oh pishaw, pishaw. From you, a veritable GIANT from past Challenges, even in your denuded state, I would expect nothing less than 500 points! I would say something witty about your alleged recent budgy smuggling but I still can't get my head quite wrapped around it...

I can feel the banter building already, this challenge has led to so much this year being a part of this challenge community directly led to Bloggers for Charity and Blog-con so thank you for that.BTW I have about 200 Zulus to prep ready for DecemberPeace James

Speaking of past Challenge Giants! It's great to have you with us again James! I followed the recent Blog-Con with great envy and Bloggers for Charity is such a superb initiative that I am humbled to have had some small part in their creation. Fantastic work.

Hello Curt, please count me in for one of the open slots if any are still available. Looking forward to this. I'll spend the morning looking up some Peckinpah films, but "Cross of Iron" is an immediate runner.

A question about the theme. What is the minimum figure count? I'd recommend normal points for each figure + 20pts. for the theme to keep it reasonable otherwise 50pts. is too much or too little depending on the size and how many figures you enter the theme.

In regards to the Bonus Themes I've placed it at 50 points on top of regular points for the figure(s) as I want to encourage participation for all scales. So, for example if someone wanted to submit five 28mm mounted figures for one of the Theme rounds they would get 50 points for the five mounted figures (5x10, per normal) PLUS they would get an additional 50 points for the submission as a whole, so 100 points total. If it was five 15mm mounted figures it would tally as 20 points for the standard submission, plus another 50 for the Theme (so 70 total). I really don't want to make this too complicated to administer so I'd like to keep it to one points award number across-the-board. If people feel strongly one way or another I will consider modifying it.

Yes, 50pts will for sure encourage participation. I need to clean and prep soon and who knows I might actually be able to stay focused on a project(I know....yeah right). If I can break 500pts. I'll be happy!

Well really looking forward to this one (already contacted Curt in late summer about it).

Anyway I think it is great that we will allowed SciFi minis this time as well, as I still have some 40K Tau and Warzone minis to paint (although the aim is to do mostly historicals again). The bonus themes are a marvelous idea, although the first one will put me under some reassure. I have some minis for that, but those will have to go on a larger diorama base... Let's see if that can be done within 5 days. :-/

No as to the points. Well last year I started with a goal of 500 and raised that to 750. Now this year I shall aim for 1000... let's see how that goes!

Burkhard, it's wonderful to have you join us again this year! Sami can keep you company while you beaver-away on your upcoming projects. 1000 points? An excellent goal! I'll have that logged in for you.

He sure will. I just hope he does not find as much interest in them as he did this week. On Monday he learned how to open the kitchen door, stole one mini and chewed the base, tap and one hand off and we spend four hours at the vet while he tried to get the parts out with an endoscopy. :-( Unfortunately he did not catch the hand (with sword attached and I spend the next day going through his poo looking for it. Everything is fine now, but I really hope this will be a one off.

Yikes! That sounds a bit harrowing. Our Great Dane ate several of my minis but he was so big that it went through him with no issues. (Though, like you, I was waiting at his rear-end with a catchers mitt to see what would emerge!) The things you go through when you're a dog owner...

Count me in Curt. I don't know anything about this Peckinpah thingy but I'll have a look out for some ideas. A maybe silly question though:As a habit I do the basing along with prepping and priming the figures when I buy them (No paint only sand, gravel etc.), is this ok?

Hell... sometimes I'm a bit dorky. 'Cross of Iron' was one of my favourite war movies for quite some time. Didn't really care bout who directed the movie though. In German it's called 'Steiner - Das Eiserne Kreuz'. I think I have the appropriate figure for you already at hand. Btw. I'll aim for a total of... say 350 pts.? I'm a lazy painter you know.

It's one of my favourites as well. The slo-motion combat scenes are quintessentially Peckinpah. Its also probably the best role Coburn had. (I also have a real soft spot for James Mason, who was brilliant in that film as well).

I am still thinking about that Curt,I have one question. I have scanned through the emails and your replies but can not find the answer, in respect to primed what do you mean, just black or white or can you use the various colour primers?

I am also still thinking of what to do, I am really hoping to reduce the Napoleonic lead pile by half (it is not the big to start), feeling in some gaps in my brigades.

I am having enormous fun with Chain of Command and finding it harder and harder to resist doing an eastern front campaign in the snow, your 15mm project is making it irresistible.

I have to finish off the dwarves from the hobbit box.

I am also being drawn to some steampunk myself, but have yet to commit.

Anyway, it looks like you have a full challenge again, I will submit my planned points once I hear about the primer.

You've got a lot of things on the go! Awesome. We're very much enjoying CoC as well. Great set of rules. I find that 15mm is a good scale for it as its quick to do, not very expensive and the scale looks nice on the tabletop.

For steampunk make sure to check out the castings form Lead Adventure - brilliant stuff.

I completely understand. The Challenge is great in getting things done but it can create painter burn-out once Spring arrives (I'm actually quite proud to be an author of this malady).

Peckinpah didn't actually do that many films (compared to many of his contemporaries). Notables are 'Straw Dogs', 'Cross of Iron' and, of course, 'The Wild Bunch', but he was quirky and did several films with odd themes such as 'The Ballad of Cable Hogue' and 'Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia'.

It's wonderful to have you along again Michael. With the bonus themes you should have a good chance of exceeding your points goal. I think I can speak for all of us in saying that we look forward to seeing what emerges from Awdry Towers over the course of the Challenge.

In my solo quest I was able to score just over 800 points so with that in mind and the fact that we won't be doing family holidays with Christmas and february, I will set my target a bit more ambitious and will try to amass 1045 points. 1000 just because it is a nice number and the 45 well too obvious to tell.

My nickname is thefrenchjester on the blogosphere, I'm mainly an Army painter not a collector painter.I'm living in France, and painting 15mm and 28mm figures.I would like to participate to your challenge this year.

my goal would be of 400 or 500 points, I hope to paint 100 points each month as a kick ass starter.

Happy to have you join us, Gilles! I'm all about the 'kick ass starting'. :) I looked at your blog and, collector or not, your painting is very fine. I tell you what, let's pencil you in for 500 points as I think with the bonus rounds you should be able to achieve that total quite easily.

Brilliant! I'm not a 'Facebook person' (my wife tells me that I'm the last holdout) but this will provide another great way for folks to chat and banter about their projects, ideas and how chinsy I am at awarding points. :)

Excellent to see this starting up again. Tamsin's efforts last year were very inspiring, although not enough for me to actually paint. I was planning on "playing along at home" this year but maybe if a spot is available I should just go for it? Not sure if my skill is up to par but I can get some paint on. And now that Fantasy is allowed I can get my stuff going.

One further question, which may have been asked above. I build up the base with clay, goop and sand before priming. Is this okay?

What the hell, I'm in. I'll have to go and order more stuff because of course I might run out of things to paint. I'll have to ponder a bit with a calculator to figure a point goal. I'll look around for your email.

OK. I totally blame Mr Willey for this but, yes, can you put me down please? I'll need to have a serious think on that I can achieve but as I have a big game coming up in May it makes sense to have a driving force!

Hi Curt, if there any spaces left I think I'd like to take part for the first time this year.

My painting output is often slow but the challenge will give me an incentive to get stuck into my project list. Unfortunately most of that project will be more 6mm stuff so very small figures for very smal points. I do have some recently aquired 28mm models to paint as well so maybe they can boost my tally a little....so put me down for a very modest 250 points. If it looks like I'm going to race past that I may revise the target upwards but at the moment this seems like a challenging but achievable target for me.

Another year, another Challenge! My output is likely to be erratic through the period of the challenge, but I'll give it my best shot.I like this years more open format and the idea of the fortnight themes, I think I may be able to work that in, and have a few figures in mind that will work out... and I even have a few cowboy figures lying around for a project that never got started so that's bonus too!You can probably expect some figures for FoW, EotD, LotR, and perhaps SAGA from me, depending on what I get up to... I'll aim for ~600 points as before, but how close I'll get to that, I don't know!Good luck to all!

It's great to have you aboard again Scott! I agree, I think the open format will add a bit more variation and fun to the proceedings. I look forward to your steampunk figures and your LotR stuff is always brilliant. 600 point target? Got it logged and loaded!

Re Terrain: No, sorry Paul. I like to keep it to figures as I find its very hard to award points for custom terrain pieces in a variety of scales. During the Challenge I typically get 3-5 submissions in a normal day so I like to keep things as streamlined as possible.

Hi Curt. I would like to be included this year. I fully understand if all the places are already taken or if you need to "bump" me for a regular. But if there is still room I would be grateful for inclusion. I will not be one of the big hitters in terms of production but hope to contribute what I can.

I can be reached on ClintBurnettagain(at)msn(dot)com.

Thank you for putting the challenge on even if I am unsuccessful this time.Cheers Clint

Ok! I'm hoisting the white flag of surrender - no more!! We've filled the roster and I'm afraid I have to close the doors for this Challenge. Thanks for your interest and support! Please come back in a months time to watch the start and cheer on The Wild Bunch through the winter months!

I am sad to see that I am too late and I understand that you are above capacity and cannot accept any more people. Having been away, I missed this post. Sadly I have been saving up historical figures all year in hopes of participating and quite a number of Knuckleduster figures.

If anyone drops out, would you please consider allowing me to take part? I would be in for 150 points.

I realize it's almost new years already however I'm in for painting up 700 points of 1/72 minis by the Sping solstice if it's still possible to join in! I have an entire Roman Army that has waited a year already for paint!!!